Event
Penn Middle East Center, Cinema & Media Studies, Jewish Studies, and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, in collaboration with Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture, are pleased to present the 2022 edition of New Middle East Cinema!
The festival is free-admission and open to all.
All movies with English subtitles.
Note: All film screenings will be held in the Rainey Auditorium at the Penn Museum. Please enter the Museum through the EAST ENTRANCE. If you are walking towards the museum from campus, this means walking down South Street until the furthest end of the museum, and taking a right once you approach the garages on Convention Avenue.
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Monday 19 September @ 6:30pm | Palestine | Presenter, Ibrahim Miari
Between Heaven and Earth | Najwa Najjar, 2019, 1h 35min
A father with a dangerous secret searches for the daughter he left behind.
Recorded interview with Director Najwa Najjar featured at the screening!
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Tuesday 20 September @ 6:30pm | Turkey | Presenters, Feride Hatiboglu and Sasha Dilan Krugman
Ovacik | Aysegul Selenga Taskent, 2019, 1h 32min
Ovacik is a place where production meets solidarity and hope with almost no budget.
Director Aysegul Selenga Taskent on Zoom at the screening!
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Wednesday 21 September @ 6:30pm | Israel | Presenter, Nili Gold
How to Be Alone | Neta Moses, 2020, 11min
While we sit all alone in front of our screens, we are connected to this endless stream of collective minds. A video exploring the new ways that the Internet can allow us to be alone – together.
Click here for the recorded interview with Director Neta Moses
How to Say Silence | Shir Newman, 2021, 59min
A grandmother's stories led the filmmaker to confront her parents about her own silence on sexual abuse in the family. For the sake of the three, she must break silence.
Click here for the recorded interview with Director Shir Newman
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Thursday 22 September @ 6:30pm | Iran | Presenter, Mahyar Entezari
The Silhouettes | Asfaneh Salari, 2020, 1h 20min
An engineering student in Iran whose parents fled war-torn Afghanistan. As Afghans are only allowed to have manual-labor jobs in Iran, Taghi plans to move to the motherland he never knew.
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Friday 23 September @ 6:30pm | Lebanon | Presenters, Huda Fakhreddine & Mohannad Ghawanmeh
Costa Brava, Lebanon | Mounia Akl, 2021, 1h 46min
A couple decide to leave the toxic pollution of their home city of Beirut, hoping to build a utopian existence in a pristine home in the mountains.
Director Mounia Akl in person at the screening!
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